Staff Blog
Gov’s Office Confirms: Rendell may single-handedly lease more state forest for drilling
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Yesterday, as you might have heard, Governor Ed Rendell announced that he would, after all, support a tax on gas drilling in Pennsyvlania.
What you didn't hear was that he's also considering authorizing the third leasing of state forest for drilling in three years.
Yesterday, the Gov's press office confirmed to CP a rumor circulating Harrisburg that Governor Rendell is considering unilaterally directing the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to lease more state forest land for drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation covering much of PA and which contains billions of dollars worth of natural gas.
By law, the leasing of state forest for oil and/or gas activities has been at the sole discretion of the Secretary of DCNR. And, for more than fifty years, state law has required that the proceeds of any such leasing go directly to conservation – specifically to the Oil and Gas Lease Fund.
This year, for the first time in Pennsylvania history, the legislature and governor – hungry for a slice of the booming activity surrounding gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale – raided that pot and overrode the DCNR Secretary's authority to decide when, where, and how much to lease. They included in the 2009 budget that required DCNR to raise $60 million from leasing to drillers.
It was the first time DCNR been required to lease land to meet a set financial goal; and the first time forest lease proceeds been redirected wholesale to the state's general fund and away from conservation.
It also seemed to ignore warnings from former DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis, who wrote in May that too much leasing would "scar the economic, scenic, ecological and recreational values of the forest," and that "a rush to drill threatens the certification of our state forests as sustainably managed."
This point – that further leasing could pose threats to the long-term stability and quality of our forests – will have to be explored further in later posts. But it's worth noting here that both former Secretary DiBerardinis and acting Secretary John Quigley have both voiced concerns over the possible impact of further leasing. In May, for example, Quigley wrote in a memo to the governor's office that
"This would likely be the last gas lease sales on State Forest land that we could manage within the context of our sustainable certification for the foreseeable future . . . DCNR remains very apprehensive about the leasing of additional forest land."
Fully one-third of state forest has already been leased for drilling – and while only four Marcellus Shale wells are currently active on that land, the state expects as many as a thousand or more over the next decade. We haven't, in other words, even begun to see how drilling on state forest may play out.
Today's news – that the Governor intends to do it again, and without bothering with the legislature – confirms environmentally-minded legislators recent fears.
For several weeks, rumor had been that legilsators were going to insert language into the coming 2010-2011 budget that would require the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to lease, for the third time in three years, more forest land for drilling – this time $180 million worth.
Environmentally-minded legislators (so-called Green Dogs) planned to fight this clause.
On Monday, though, a new rumor was afloat: the Governor would simply require DCNR to lease the land himself, without the legislature, and he might do it soon.
"He could do it tomorrow," Rep Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), who is sponsoring a bill that would impose a moratorium on further leasing of state forest for drilling, told CP on Monday.
Indeed. Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma confirmed yesterday that the Governor was considering authorizing another lease himself:
As things now stand, he would have the authority to do so in the 2010-11 budget year, and yes he would consider doing it because it was part of the two-year agreement with the legislature.
That last bit, the idea that further leasing "was part of the two-year agreement with the legislature," is disputed.
In fact, Mr. Tuma originally told City Paper that the $180 million sale had been written into law already. When CP pointed out this wasn't the case, Mr. Tuma wrote back that:
There was a very clear and very public agreement in October that the Governor and the legislature had jointly agreed on a plan to balance the budget for two years, and that $180 million from leasing in 2010-11 was part of that.
Tuma did not respond to CP's question of where, exactly, this "clear and very public agreement" had been publicized.
Rep. Vitali directly disputes this claim. "The opposite is true," he told CP today. He and several other Green Dogs, he said, had been aware of the legislature's and governor's intention to include more leasing in the budget but opposed it.
"We negotiated and the negotiated agreement was that for 2009-2010, there would be $60 million in leasing. There was no agreement with regard to 2010-2011, simply no agreement."
Representative David Levdansky (D-Allegheny, Washington) agrees:
"We insisted that they take year two off the table, and they did," he told CP today. "If the governor's claiming otherwise, it's not accurate and it's just an effort to double-cross us."
"I supported Ed Rendell when he ran against the real Bob Casey in 1986. I supported him when he ran against young Bob Casey. I've been his legislative ally on every major policy. But the governor is dead wrong on this. He's a city slicker – he doesn't understand that a century-old state forest system is a treasure of the Commonwealth."
Stay tuned for updates on the Clog. Tips are always welcome.
“only four Marcellus Shale wells are currently active on that land”…
I’m not sure how current that info is – as we speak there are more than 4 active wells on state forest land here in Tioga County alone…
This man continues to break the Social Contract to fuel his own ambition and cronyism. He needs $137mn to give to his rich corporate friends in Philly for another twisted idea, The Barnes On The Parkway Project, which guts another iconic landmark in a public/private conspiracy (I mean partnership) with wealthy special interests that obviously have way too much money and should be taxed more severely. Rendell should have stuck to scrubbing urinals in Philly because his conscience has apparently never left the gutter. The Barnes Belongs in Merion. 322 days to January 1, 2011.
[...] Secretary Michael DiBerardinis cautioned Rendell against leasing forest. A few days ago, we reported (and the Inquirer re-reports today) that Governor Rendell is considering authorizing yet another [...]
Great to see you getting on board the Marcellus coverage, Isaiah. Just to clear the record, the Inquirer reported on Oct. 2 about the existence of the $180 million budget deal, and AP and the Inquirer ran items on the deal in early January. Also, here’s a press release Penn Environment issued on Oct. 14:
Budget Dramatically Shifts Resources From Environmental Protection, Natural Resource Conservation
LENGTH: 969 words
DATELINE: HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 14
Pennsylvania Is Selling Off Natural Resources to Balance the Budget
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Cuts and diversions in the budget just adopted by the state have dramatically reduced spending for environmental and natural resource programs in Pennsylvania by $347 million in just one year according to Donald S. Welsh, President & CEO of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
“The unprecedented 26 percent cut in the Department of Environmental Protection and 18 percent cut in Department of Conservation and Natural Resources budgets raise significant doubts about the capacity of both agencies to fulfill their missions,” said Welsh. “Environmental programs for some reason seem to have been singled out for cuts that go way beyond the average 9 percent suffered by other agencies.”
The General Fund budget of DEP was cut $58 million, or 26.7 percent, with most of the cuts coming in line items used to fund staff positions. Over 300 positions are at risk of being eliminated as a result of these cuts.
DCNR’s General Fund budget was cut $21 million, or 18.5 percent, with again many of the cuts coming in personnel line items. There are about 160 positions at risk of being eliminated at DCNR.
“Of great concern is the diversion of $234 million from the Oil and Gas Fund to the General Fund that was earmarked for improving recreation and access to our State Parks and Forests,” said Welsh. “Taking the proceeds from mineral rights sales away from conservation programs erases 55 years of precedent in Pennsylvania.”
$174 million was transferred from the Oil and Gas Fund to balance to 2008-09 budget, and $60 million is to be transferred to balance the 2009-10 budget. Another $180 million is set to be used from the Fund to balance the 2010-11 budget, as well.
“Adding to these diversions is the requirement in the budget to lease thousands of acres of State Forest land for Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling to raise the money needed for the diversions,” said Welsh. “It is a sad day for the Commonwealth when we are selling off our natural resources to balance the budget.”
A bill accompanying the budget requires the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to lease as many acres as necessary to yield $60 million in revenue to balance the budget. There is no cap on the acres to be leased or a minimum bid price. This provision of the budget would have been even more destructive had it not been for the leadership of a bi-partisan coalition of House members who vigorously fought to protect state lands from unmitigated extraction.
“These cuts are bad enough on their own, however, they are only the latest in a series of cuts or diversions over the last several years,” said Welsh. “Funds for watershed restoration, abandoned mine reclamation, wastewater plant operations, storage tank cleanup, diversions from the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund and more have all gone to balance the budget.”
Here is the list of cuts and diversions over the last seven years:
$376 million in Act 339 grants intended to support wastewater plant operations were eliminated to balance the budget;$174 million diverted from the DCNR Oil and Gas Fund to balance the 2008-09 budget;$79 million cut from the DEP and DCNR General Fund budget during 2009-10 fiscal year;$60 million diverted from the DCNR Oil and Gas Fund to balance the 2009-10 budget;$100 million in 2002 from the Underground Storage Tank cleanup insurance fund to balance the budget (although this is slowly being repaid over 10 years);$52.7 million “one-time” diversion from the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund in 2006 to balance the budget;$50 million in 2007 and 2008 from the Environmental Stewardship Fund, which supports mine reclamation and watershed restoration, to fund the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program because there was no agreement on how to fund that program;$50 million in 2007 and 2008 from the Environmental Stewardship Fund to pay debt service on the Growing Greener II bond issue and taking funding away from restoration projects each year for the next 25 years – reflecting a pattern of only environmental programs being required to address their own bond debt service;$15 million from the Recycling Fund in to balance the 2008-09 budget;$18.4 million put into budgetary reserve in 2008-09 from the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; $5and million reduction in Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) farm conservation tax credit program in FY 2009-10.
“Before last week’s budget was adopted, we were already below the point of providing sufficient funding for environmental and conservation programs; programs that protect public health, rebuild our communities, and sustain our state’s quality of life,” said Welsh. “It’s time to stop ignoring the need for additional, long-term revenue sources like a natural gas severance tax. Without rebuilding adequate investment, we cannot hope to meet our legal obligations to cleanup our air and water or take care of the natural resources in our public trust.”
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council promotes the protection and restoration of the natural and built environments through innovation, collaboration, education and advocacy with the private sector, government, individuals and communities as partners to improve the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians.
The Council was founded in 1970 and serves the entire state through offices in Meadville, Franklin, Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia. For more information visit http://www.pecpa.org or call 717-230-8044.
Contact:
Donald S. Welsh
President & CEO, PEC
717-230-8044 ext. 16
SOURCE Pennsylvania Environmental Council
To clarify the record: Thanks, Enviro Guy: the Inquirer did indeed report the $180 in October and January. The “new” news is this: that Rendell is considering authorizing the lease without waiting for legislative approval to transfer funds from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund; and that “Green Dog” House Democrats dispute the idea (as reported in the October Inky) that there was any such $180 deal in place when they voted in the 2009-2010 budget.
Tioga Gas Watch: Are you sure? Give me call.
Thanks to all for input and clarifications always.
This is the best news that I have heard since the last time they sold mineral rights. Ed is a very smart man and has the best intrest for OUR state in mind. DRILL DRILL DRILL JOBS JOBS JOBS